Hello  louisekfeb17,

Welcome! Im a mother of 3 boys and 2 of them are early readers in English, French, Spanish, and Chinese. The earlier the better. Its also easier to set up a routine the earlier you start. I started my third son at 2   1/2 months and he loves it (now 3 months). Always smiling and responding joyously to it. I would actually start with the free flashcards print outs first since you will be more involved. Also try out the free trials first.

Newborns have the capability to absorb and identify more than one language so definitely speak, sing, and read as much as you can in any and all languages you want them to learn. The baby's eyes should be ready to do flashcards and littlereader by 3 months. I would definitely show your family how amazing it is with the flashcards and start earlier. The response is amazing. I remember my other 2 sons going into a crazy fit of excitement when they were about 5 months old. My husband was a bit skeptical at first as well but now he loves to help teach it.

Once you buy the LittleReader curriculum, you will have it for a lifetime. It is a year long curriculum.

Many of the videos you see on here with children reading in multiple languages also did many other programs/or were multilingual and some of them went without introducing tv. You do not need to buy other programs but you do need to set out a good chunk of time.  I would buy plenty of books and use as many of the free flashcards as possible even if you buy little reader.  Also, I would definitely print out and use the English alphabet cards but use them for phonetics. Do not teach the letter names because it will slow down the reading process. Since you are bilingual your baby will be set for learning both languages. 

Read as many articles and books possible for teaching. It helps quite a bit.  I would read Glenn Doman and the little booklet on here to start off first.

Hello Just_Mark,  I would suggest doing everything above.   Expose the language through music (kindermusik style at home which is fun and interactive and I would keep it at 15 minute sessions through out the day), books, audio books, and word and phonetic flashcards (start with  flashcard sessions during meals and then introduce when you can). This is recommended for ALL ages in learning a language. Babies and toddlers will require less effort to teach and will learn quickly. Later you can sign up for free language exchange for extra exposure or use italki.com for free language exchange with foreigners (maybe around age 8 or 9?).  Read to her as much as you can even if you think she isn't listening to you.  Read to her while she plays, read to her using her favorite toy if she has one, at bath time,  in the car, when your on trips, and even during holidays and weekends.   Its great that she likes Dora but I would not suggest that cartoon for learning Spanish since it relies too much on English and only exposes a few Spanish words. If you are trying to get away from tv exposure that will do wonders seeing as children thrive the most on interaction. TV can be introduced again after she learns how to read and speak phrases in Spanish. Whether you wait or not with tv, I would suggest looking into immersive Spanish such as disney. Disney Jr has tons of immersive Spanish on youtube, such as La Casa de Mickey Mouse, that you can check out. I would make sure exposure through tv is timed. Its awesome how excited toddlers get when they realize they understand what they are watching. Kindermusik should focus on about 5 repetitive songs at a time for a week or two or before she gets bored. You can use scarves/play silks to twirl around, laundry baskets to scoot her in, music shakers, clapping, etc while doing kindermusik sessions and this will help her fall in love with the language.  It will probably be a bit crazy to change her schedule that fits at first but it becomes routine after a few weeks and you will notice how she will not want to watch tv as well. Learning is definitely fulfilling even to little ones.  

I dont know if you are considering homeschooling but I can totally agree with Mandabplus!  Homeschooling is by far the best educational route.  Even International Schools cannot compare. I find that the mother is the best teacher and teaching a child one-on-one allows the child to not only absorb everything but absorb it at a faster pace.  If you are considering homeschooling, I would save the money that you will spend at schools and put it towards wonderful homeschooling curriculum.  There are plenty of amazing programs to choose from just off this forum alone.  Happy searching! 

Sorry about the list.  It seems my keyboard is broken.   Also, Little Pim and DinoLingo are good for exposure but do not really teach reading skills.

Hello SunilPriya!                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               Congratulations on teaching your son Spanish!  German is not one of the languages I am teaching but I am teaching French and have quite a bit of resources.  IF you plan on doing German and French, there should be plenty of German resources to help you because its so well known. I was able to find Korean and Japanese resources though resources are scarce.   Anyways,  I always suggest taking advantage of Brillkids free flashcard library and print out hands on flashcards.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      French Resources:                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  Petit Ours Brun (books on amazon/ free videos on youtube)                                                                                                                                                                              T'Choupi (books on amazon/ free videos on youtube)                                                                                                                                                                                        Berlitz Kids: French (audio books on amazon/ also available in German and Spanish)                                                                                                                                         Baby's First Words in French CD                                                                                                              http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003MY7RCA/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=32A0KIA9CXMUI&coliid=I3KY4MKSVIP21O                                     Your Baby Can Learn  (now offers several languages including French and is coming out with German) Has books and flashcards that are really nice!       French Playground (cd from amazon )                                                                                                                                                                                                              Whistlefritz ( cds and dvds in French and Spanish on amazon)  I never bought the DvDs so I dont know how good they are and you can sample the songs before buying.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          http://frenglishlearning.com/readers/                                                                                                                                                                                                               http://www.enchantedlearning.com/books/french/                                                                                                                                                                                      http://winktolearn.com/collections/european-languages/French                                                                                                                                                                  http://winktolearn.com/collections/european-languages/German                                        

Hello Bemi! I'm not exactly from Australia (USA) but I can definitely give you some advice on public versus private school.  Public schools tend to not be able to enforce different learning speeds so if your child can already read she will probably end up not learning anything new in reading. This is because the teacher teaches one specific way for everyone. I have heard that many children who have had a tremendous start in learning end up wanting to read the book to the class instead of the teacher though.    Private schools may help with accommodating to your child's learning ability (I mean you are paying for the school!).  There is also the option of international schools.  If there is one in your area, your child would not need accommodations because they would start with teaching your toddler how to read and do math in another language. Knowing how to read in her first language will set her up for learning other languages rapidly.  International schools tend to cost the same amount as private schools or a little cheaper. Some public schools also offer the immersive language option so I would keep an eye out for that if its available.  I don't know how different our education systems are but our public schools in the US are not very good.

Not to worry! It's never too late to teach a child! It's just easier and faster the sooner one starts. The fact that she is still an early reader will help her tremendously in learning and you can still do foreign language and math.  For Math, I would recommend Marshmallow Math (amazon) at first.  Marshmallow Math is kind of like a hands on Dot Cards. It teaches quantities and introduces addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division sneakily through fun. It does a bit more as well.  Right Start Math and Saxon are also really good.  I have heard somewhere that someone actually started their newborn infant on Math with black dot cards.  Of course I cant find the source now but it might be possible to teach your baby now.  Babies from birth can automatically start identifying patterns and the math cards are actually patterns.                                                                                                                                                                                               The reason why foreign language probably didn't stick is because there needs to be more to back up that language (at least 2- 5 hours worth per day). Brillkids is a wonderful program but it only covers a few minutes a day.  I would definitely get foreign language books and audio books, immersive music (I would treat this part similar to kindermusik style), and print plenty of free flashcards from the Brillkids library.  It's good to have plenty of hands on material such as flashcards. It's best to read through out the day whenever you can ( we even read during meals and its really a great idea if your toddler is active).                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            Let me know what language(s) you are trying to teach and I can send you some really great sources that moms on the forum have helped me to find.  Most of the toddlers that have read in multiple languages on here have been exposed to hrs and hrs of fun with the language each day and some do not do tv unless it helps with foreign language.  

English subjects are done in the mornings throughout the week and then we do Spanish and French after noon on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Mandarin and Japanese are done on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays.

Foreign Languages: We find as many programs as we can such as Little Pim, Your Baby Can Read, Muzzy, Baby Learns Chinese, etc. Wink to Learn has beautiful flashcards but most of the DVDs, in my opinion, do not have good quality. Sometimes you can do a fun language exchange for the children for free with a foreigner who is trying to learn English (I found a local who is a native from China who is a really good friend now.). We have play silks to dance with and laundry baskets to tote the boys around during foreign language music time. Labeling objects around the house, arts and crafts, flashcards, and books help and I try to stay a step ahead. I am studying the languages as I am teaching them as well and I find it a lot of fun learning the languages this way.  If you decide to study languages with your children I would definitely look into italki.com which is free foreign language exchange from around the world.

Music: Soft Mozart Piano is a win in my book! It teaches piano through a game type software. We will add Suzuki violin and cello over time.

Math: Marshmallow Math is a book that teaches counting to 100, addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division in a hands on approach. First Start Math uses the abacus.

Hello Katia!
My name is Ariel and I am currently homeschooling my 5 year old and 3 year old in the United States. I must say that home schooling is very rewarding for all parties involved and many people on Brillkids go about different schedules but usually tend to use similar products.

I try to keep a relaxed and somewhat structured schedule for my boys (especially since my little one has become very energetic).  Our subjects consist of Reading, Math, History, Science, Writing, Music, Spanish, French, Japanese, and Mandarin Chinese in a very hands on fashion.  They do Gymnastics and
 Martial Arts for exercise. Trampolines are also very wonderful. Personally, I find it extremely important to start volunteer work early as well so that they will also develop compassion and humility and hopefully become noble men that love helping others. Also, joining a homeschooling group is a must! You can get support, make many friends, and many times have very cheap group field trips to places that are usually very pricey if you were going as a family.  Even going to the park as a group sometimes feels like a field trip and the kids always have fun. Homeschooling groups can offer mom night outs, free class exchanges, free art work shops, and great discounts through knowing people.  Having a system that works helps ease my mind and gives me the strength to be the mom I want to be.

I also started my 2 boys around the 6 month mark before I found out about Brillkids. We used Glenn Doman and Your Baby Can Learn methods.
I plan on starting my 3rd son as a newborn though. You can do black and white 'blob' cards, Dot Math cards, and I plan on flashing simple phonetics (not ABC names but using the sounds they make) until he is able to start on words at 3 months.  Usually its harder to get a baby or toddler to be interested in Math so I decided to start with it first along with phonetics.

This is very exciting! I can't wait to buy it already! I would love to see how Little Pal would work and it would be great for Little ones to be able to have friends across the globe as well! I love this idea!

I would also LOVE a Japanese and Korean curriculum for Little Reader! Does anyone know if Wink to Learn Makes different videos for each language or is it the same video and supplemented with different languages? Like if I have Chinese and buy Japanese and French would all the videos look the same while using the language you purchased?

Sorry, I am trying to describe what I am curious about...  I just want to make sure that my children keep attentive for all of them..

Don't give up! Every child has their own pace and learn differently.  I would try adding hooked on phonics to their daily routine.  My eldest son started with the Glenn Doman method and YBCR and I noticed he lost interest in it for a bit then would become interested in it again.  Then we bought hooked on phonics to help with phonics portion along with Little Reader and now he is decoding the words on Little Reader!  Sometimes sight reading doesn't work alone with some children and other children can just get it without the help of extra phonics.  They all have different ways of learning.  Definitely add some more phonics in and you will see a difference.  If they are young, all you have to do is play the DVDs through out the day and they will be able to grasp it.  Do not stop the sight reading! The extra phonics will help them get interested in it again.